Safe At Last
by Lauren M Potter
Summary: Chapter 3 up! Hermione is utterly in love with Harry. She has sort of let it slip- but doesn't know if Harry loves her back. Still in the midst of all of the Order work, both are confused. HHr RR
1. Hermione's Letter

Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter and related characters and things. That belongs to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. And the song in this chapter is called "The Finale" from the play "Les Miserables".  
  
A/N: Um. read and review!  
  
Safe at Last  
  
Chapter 1- Hermione's Letter  
  
.Come with me. Where chains will never bind you. All your grief, At last, at last, behind you. God in Heaven, look down on him in mercy.  
  
Hermione had never used a song in a prayer before. She wondered if it was appropriate. But it did fit in with the way she was feeling now, for Harry.  
  
"Oh Harry." she thought, "All I ever want is for you to be happy. Your life is so miserable right now. Nobody deserves this, especially not you. If only I could make things right," and then she sighed.  
  
Immediately, her eyes shifted to the desk in her room. Everything was organized in a very Hermione-ish way. All of her quills stayed in their place, organized by color, size, and price. Then, all ready to go were her many different pieces of parchment, along with wax sealers bearing the Granger crest that her parents had given her.  
  
Hermione sat down in her desk chair, and prepared to write a letter to Harry. She would write one to Ron later. Hermione grabbed some parchment and a vivid green parrot feather quill. She had trouble selecting an ink color. In the end, she chose a metallic dark blue. Once Hermione was ready, she began to write:  
  
Dear Harry,  
Hello, it's Hermione. I feel like I haven't spoken to you in ages, so I had to send you an owl, even though it's 3:00 in the morning. I guess I really miss you, and maybe I miss Ron a bit too.  
  
I am really sorry about how difficult things have been lately. If you ever need me, you can always send me an owl. Even so, I worry about you Harry. You have lost so much in such a short period of time, and I can't think of a person in the world who deserves that. We all loved Sirius very much, and we all love you.  
  
Don't be hard on yourself, because I know we'll all see each other in the near future. All of us, together. Things are going to be a lot different now, but we'll be safe. We will go through everything together, and we will win this war. You are in my thoughts, and in my prayers. Be safe, but still be Harry.  
  
Much Love, Hermione.  
  
And with that, she absentmindedly flourished the I in Hermione with a little heart. Carefully, Hermione out her quill and ink back in their place and re-read her letter for any mistakes. Finding none, she sealed her letter and handed it to her new owl, Windsong. "Here", she said, "give this to Harry. Don't wake him up if he's asleep; give it to him in the morning then." With that, Windsong nodded briefly and soared out the window into the open sky.  
  
It wasn't till later, while laying in bed that Hermione began to think about her letter. She really hoped that Harry wouldn't be upset that she had mentioned Sirius. He had taken Sirius' death rather hard. Then Hermione realized how she had dotted the I in her name with a heart. Her real heart skipped a beat. "Stop it", she scolded herself, "It's not like he likes you back". And with that, Hermione drifted off into an uneasy, but dreamless sleep.  
  
Little did Hermione know, Harry did indeed notice the little heart dotting the I. And to him, it was a beacon of hope.  
  
"Maybe Hermione does like me," Harry thought, "Oh, woah. she said she loves me. kind of." Harry did a victory dance. 


	2. News

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything, but it would be really cool if I did,   
  
And now, on with the fic!.....  
  
chapter 2: News  
  
Considering how late Harry went to bed, he woke up quite early the next morning. He had dressed, brushed his teeth,   
  
washed up, and eaten, all by 10:00 am. On top of that, Harry fely very pleased with the world in general. Maybe it had something  
  
to do with a certian letter...  
  
A little while later, Harry was up in his room, flipping through the photo albun Hagrid had given him at the end of  
  
Harry's first year. Eventually, Harry foung what he was looking for; It was a picture of the Marauders,along with Lily.  
  
James and Lily wiere sitting under a tree, holding hands, while Sirius and Remus were throwing sticks and rocks at eachother.  
  
Peter was off to the side, wwatching.They were in 7th yearjudging by the date on the back of the picture.  
  
Harry had looked through this photo album many times lately. It gave him a sense of hope. After Sirius died, Harry  
  
had grieved for a while, it would have been un-natural not to. But now, whenever Harry thought of Sirius, it gave him a   
  
feeling of prode. He loved to reminise about all the happy memories they had sharedtogether. Harry didn't feel the single   
  
tear running down his cheek, until hit hit the page he was looking at. It was't a tear or sadness, or joy. It was simply one  
  
last tear shed of saying goodbye to a frirend.  
  
After tidying up his room a bit, Harry decided to go downstairs and make himself a penutbutter-banana sandwitch.   
  
There at the kitchen table, sat Dudley. Even though he had indeed lost weight, he was still equal to the size of a small   
  
hippo. " Well good morning Harry" Dudley said in a mock cheerful voice, "How are you doing today?" " Peachy", Harry replied,  
  
"Just peachy." " I heard you last night" Dudley grunted again, " Something about 'She likes me! She really likes me' I'm   
  
glad to see that you've evolved onto girls Potter. That's quite an acheivement for you" He ended with a malicous grin.  
  
" I haven;t got time for this Dudley" Harry mutterd. He grabbbed up his samdwitch and stomped upstairs.  
  
The last thing Harry wanted right now was to be angry. If he was angrym he would get snappy, and if he got snappy, he   
  
would get in trouble. That was just what Dudley wanted, and what Harry was trying to avoid.  
  
Luckily, before Harry could brood on this any longer. Ron's owl Pig swooped through the window. Immideately, this   
  
completely changed Harry's mood. It was a letter from Ron ;  
  
Some day in June  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
'Lo mate! How's life? Dumbledore came to our house yesterday, and you won't believe what he said. I don't know the  
  
specifics, but he talked to Mum and Dad about something and now Hermione and I have to come spend the rest of the summer at  
  
youu'r house!  
  
Aparrently, the Order is getting too dangerous for us to be hanging around and we need to go somewhere safer.  
  
Dumberlore said the muggles won't mind, he'll be giving them a little talk. Hehehe  
  
Anyway, Hermionie and I are coming on the 29th, I think that's tommorow. See you then!  
  
From,  
  
Ron  
  
Harry was overjoyed, He re-read the letter twice, making sure his eyes weren't decieving him. "The rest of the   
  
summer with Ron and Hermione"he thought to himself, "This will be great, the Holidays have bearly even started yet!" 


	3. Arrival

Sorry this update is took me a while. I am having a serious case of the writers block. Its hard being 12. Anyways.... Chapter 3: Arrival On the morning of the 29th, Harry dressed very carefully. Not like he had a good selection., since all of his clothes had once been Dudley's. Eventually Harry chose a baggy pair of faded blue jeans and a black Metallica t-shirt. Harry would have passes for a very good Muggle. With a jolt, Harry realized that Ron had forgotten to tell Harry what time, and how they would be coming. "Surely not by Floo" Harry thought to himself. " Not after what happened last time." All morning , Harry sat on the sitting room sofa. Eventually he grew hungry and fetched an apple from the kitchen. Eating it slowly, Harry wondered what type of reaction the Dursley's would have when Dumbledore, Hermione and Ron all turned up at their home, un-invited. Taking another bite into his apple, Harry started planning out what he Ron and Hermione would do this summer. Ron could sleep in his room with him, Harry would just sleep in a sleeping bag, and Hermione would sleep.. " On the couch" He thought, " Yeah, that will work." Harry took another bite from his apple. He realized that he would have his friends with him for his 16th birthday. This was the happiest Harry had felt in a long time. That was one of his biggest birthdays in his life, and he was going to have his friends with him?! Harry couldn't believe his luck. He could have a small un-official birthday party! His first birthday party at that. It would be great! Harry pretty much inhaled the rest of his apple and stared avidly out the window. Noon came and went without a sight of human life, Dursley or other. That didn't bother Harry in the slightest, especially the Dursley part. At 2:15 pm, Uncle Vernon stormed into the sitting room in a fit of rage. Apparently he didn't seen to notice Harry was there because he was muttering to himself in such a way Harry could have sworn his Uncle was either very ill, or very drunk. Uncle Vernon stanched up the television remote and turned on the t.v. The same thing was on every channel. It was the Muggle news. Avery attractive, yet obviously very frightened female reporter was talking very fast. " I am here at number 8, Oswald drive where there seems to be a floating skull hovering over the house. This is very disturbing indeed" The reporter stammered. She was obviously trying to keep her composer, but she was failing. " It appears the skull is being projected into the sky, but the area has been searched and no such equipment that could have projected the skull had been found. The skull seems to have a snake coming out of it's mouth, like a tongue. Even more disturbing , is that the residents of number 8, Oswald drive, the Corstair family were all found dead inside. Police are searching the scene of the crime for clues, though none have been found yet. There appears to be no sign of forced entry. The police have tried everything they could to get the floating skull, but they can't figure out how to make it go away. I'm Brenda Hillmount and I'll be back with later updates." Ste t.v cameras shifted there attention from the reporter, to the house behind her. The Dark Mark was hovering over an obviously Muggle home. Sirens were blaring. There was a large crown of worried people huddling behind the police barriers. Now, more than ever, Harry realized how important it was that he remained at Privet Drive. Without warning, the doorbell rang. It was now 2:30. Harry's heart leapt. He looked out the window for a car, but saw nothing. Not that it dampened Harry's spirit though. Harry went down to open the door, as Uncle Vernon was till absorbed in the t.v. Just before Harry opened the door, Dudley came thundering down the stairs. Harry didn't even notice, because right before him was the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore, closely followed by an even taller Ron , and a very tan, very different Hermione. She was taller and tan, with beautiful sunlit streaks in her hair, which was now waist length and sporting loose ringlet curls. She was wearing a red tank top with beaded straps and a white miniskirt. Harry noticed that she also seemed more. you know. Even though it felt like Harry was studying Hermione ages, it only took a split second. Next to her, Ron was simply, still Ron. He was wearing a worn out blue and yellow striped rugby shirt and long denim shorts. He was obviously in his Muggle best. The only real change in him was even more freckles and even more height. ( If that was possible.) It surprised Harry that the two people he knew best in the world looked so different, so fast. " Might we come in Harry? " asked Dumbledore, breaking the silence. He looked very odd indeed wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and black shorts. " Of course Professor" Harry replied politely. He moved over to hold the door open for them, but there was no room to come in; Dudley was frozen to the spot, goggling at Hermione. His eyes were bulging, and his jaw was dropped. " Um. Dudley?" Harry asked nervously, " Could you err. move?" With that, Dudley, horror struck at what he had just been caught doing sprinted up the stairs. With much difficulty. 


End file.
